Posted on 08/22/2006 11:16:22 AM PDT by Clive
Three Canadian citizens travelled to New York to buy anti-aircraft missiles, machine guns and other military weapons for the Tamil Tigers terrorist organization, the U.S. government alleges after unveiling a wide anti-terrorism sting operation yesterday.
At least eight people were arrested in the United States on the weekend by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force and another man was arrested in Ontario yesterday by the RCMP.
Two search warrants were also executed in Southern Ontario as part of the joint U.S.-Canada counterterrorism investigation.
Authorities say the probe tracked a series of in-person meetings, e-mail exchanges and telephone conversations as representatives of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam based in Canada arranged to buy portable surface-to-air missiles, assault rifles, truck-mounted missile systems, aerial vehicles for jamming radio transmissions and radar, submarine design software, flight lessons and an array of other military and communications items.
The Canadians, who range in age from 27 to 38, wanted to buy 50 to 100 surface-to-air anti-aircraft missiles, the FBI says.
"Sometimes getting five or 10 'needles' is not worth it," one of the accused men said in a conversation recorded by the FBI that used "needle" as a code word for missile, the U.S. government claims.
"It has to be obtained in bulk. At our rate, if we fire 10 at least two will hit," he continued.
The negotiations, allegedly caught on tape, included Canadian men being shown an anti-aircraft missile by undercover agents that was brought into the room in a long wooden crate. The box looked like a "casket," an agent said. Another replied that it would put quite a few people in caskets and one of the Canadians laughed, saying, "Yes," prosecutors claim in court documents.
One of the Canadians then hoisted the missile launcher onto his shoulder and asked about the speed of the aircraft it can shoot down, authorities claim.
The black-market weapons were to be transferred ship-to-ship in the middle of the Indian Ocean and taken to Sri Lanka, according to U.S. prosecutors.
The deal included training.
Other alleged Tamil Tiger leaders based in the United States also discussed a $1-million bribe to have the Tigers taken off the U.S. government's list of terrorist organizations, a status only recently applied in Canada.
"These defendants allegedly sought to obtain, through a variety of means, weapons and materials to carry out a deadly campaign of violence. We will use every tool in our power to disrupt the activities of those who seek to harm others, both here and abroad," said Alberto Gonzales, the U.S. Attorney-General, in a prepared statement.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, commonly called the Tamil Tigers, is trying to establish an independent Tamil state in northern Sri Lanka and is notorious for its use of suicide bombings and its assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the former Indian prime minister. It was declared a terrorist organization in the United States in 1997 and in Canada this past spring.
The U.S. Department of Justice said the defendants are "closely connected with LTTE leadership in Sri Lanka, and many of them have personally met with LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran."
The U.S. complaints also allege the defendants' actions in support of the LTTE included fundraising "in the United States and Canada, relying on 'front' charitable organizations to give the fundraising the appearance of legitimacy."
In April, Canadian authorities raided the Toronto and Montreal offices of the World Tamil Movement, alleging it was illegally raising money for the Tigers. Those raids came days after the Conservative government added the Tigers to Ottawa's list of outlawed terror groups.
The FBI operation allegedly started on July 30, when Nadarasa "Yoga" Yogarasa phoned a Tamil man he believed to have ties to a black market arms dealer, the U.S. government alleges.
The man, however, had previously agreed to co-operate with the government after a drug trafficking conviction a decade ago and, in return for immigration status in America, was feeding authorities information.
Mr. Yogarasa arranged a meeting between the informant and another man, identified as Sathajhan Sarachandran, known as "Satha," a Canadian citizen of Tamil descent, prosecutors say.
On July 31, Mr. Sarachandran met with the others in Queens, a New York City borough, according to a sworn complaint by an FBI agent filed in a U.S. court.
Mr. Sarachandran told the informant that he was taking direction from Pottu Amman, who allegedly heads the intelligence and operations wing of the Tamil Tigers and is widely named as the brains behind the Gandhi assassination. Mr. Amman handled the "outside purchasing" of arms, Mr. Sarachandran allegedly said.
Mr. Sarachandran said that a "big guy" in Canada was Mr. Amman's direct contact and was going "there" (to the Tamil home base in Sri Lanka) to get a list of the weapons and supplies they wanted to buy, the FBI says.
They swapped e-mail addresses and later that day, at the FBI's direction, the informant sent the Canadian man an e-mail titled "Met you today," documents say.
"Thanks for meeting. I will contact my guy to see what he has. If it is OK do you want me to send you pictures of the merchandise?" he wrote.
On Aug. 1, a reply came: "I am waiting for your merchandise pictures."
A day later, the FBI sent another e-mail from the informant.
"Here are photos of what my guy has available. SA-18 Russian made shoulder fired. Let me know if your guys are interested. Give me a list of what they want and I'll ask him what he can get," the e-mail said. Attached were two photographs of an SA-18 surface-to-air missile, the FBI agent says. The same photos were forwarded by Mr. Sarachandran to Sri Lanka quoting prices: "SA18 $75,000 US 1 reusable and 1 needle" and "1 needle $50,000 US."
On Aug. 14, an undercover law enforcement officer who posed as the informant's arms dealer called Mr. Sarachandran. The Canadian said the deal was urgent, the government alleges.
"Unfortunately, we need to meet fast, uh, ASAP," according to a recording of the conversation, the government says.
"We are very serious about this matter," he allegedly said.
Four men drove across the border in Niagara on Aug. 18, telling Customs agents they were heading to a bachelor party in Buffalo, the FBI says. One was found to have a criminal record and refused admission. He took a taxi home.
The others -- Mr. Sarachandran, Sahilal "Sahil" Sabaratnam and Thiruthanikan "Thani" Thanigasalam -- continued on their trip, the government says.
The three men allegedly met with the informant and another undercover agent, who posed as an expert in military hardware, in Long Island.
"We need something for Kfir," Mr. Thanigasalam allegedly said, an apparent reference to the Israeli-made Kfir fighter jet used by the Sri Lankan military.
"You want to shoot this airplane down," the undercover agent asked.
Mr. Thanigasalam said yes, the FBI alleges in court documents. The men also referred to a "financial guy" in Canada who would help with payment. They spoke of Swiss bank accounts and other offshore accounts.
A deal was made to buy 10 of the anti-aircraft missiles and 500 AK-47s as an initial purchase, the FBI says. The price was between US$900,000 and US$937,500 for the lot.
Shortly after, the men were arrested.
Also arrested in Ontario was Suresh Sriskandarajah, at the request of U.S. authorities. He faces extradition.
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Please send me a FReepmail to get on or off this Canada ping list.
Are these guys Muslims or Hindus or what? I was reading about them on a terrorism website, and they seem to act like Muslim terrorists, but the website didn't say what religion they were, if any.
That the Sinhalese are Buddhist and the Tamils predominantly Hindu does contribute to the problem, but a lot of conflicts that are perceived as religious are actually ethnic (Darfur, for example, where both sides are Muslim and it's between "Arab" Nomad herders and "African" farmers, though both sides look like each other physically and hard to tell apart._
It's sort of interesting that this incredibly bloody conflict which has gone on for decades is finally getting MSM, and FR attention, now. An odd phenomenon for which I don't have a good explanation is that there are a variety of rather bloody conflicts around the world where there is no real Muslim involvement (In Sri Lanka, there are Muslims, but their main activity seems to be keeping their heads down and being attacked for no particular reason from time to time by the Tamil Tigers) and they tend NOT to get media attention - the Congo is another good example of this. People seem to have a hard time mentally processing that, and also that the Tamil Tigers really pioneered and perfected the individual suicide belt bomber and they're not Muslim.
Some came as relatives of landed immigrants.
'Other alleged Tamil Tiger leaders based in the United States also discussed a $1-million bribe to have the Tigers taken off the U.S. government's list of terrorist organizations, a status only recently applied in Canada'
Wow, a MILLION dollars. They must not watch movies.
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